The gospel reflector : in which the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is set forth, and scripture evidence adduced to establish it..
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The gospel reflector : in which the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is set forth, and scripture evidence adduced to establish it..
- Publication date
- 1841
- Publisher
- Philadelphia : Brown, Bicking and Guilbert
- Collection
- brighamyounguniversityhawaii; americana
- Contributor
- Brigham Young University Hawaii, Joseph F. Smith Library
- Language
- English
Edited by Benjamin Winchester, Presiding Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Philadelphia
Complete with title page and table of contents
No more published
Complete with title page and table of contents
No more published
Notes
Text falls tight to the gutter.
- Addeddate
- 2011-08-08 21:25:13
- Associated-names
- Winchester, Benjamin, 1817-1901, editor
- Bookplateleaf
- 0003
- Call number
- 20291725
- Camera
- Canon EOS 5D Mark II
- External-identifier
- urn:oclc:record:1045615418
- Foldoutcount
- 0
- Identifier
- gospelreflectori00winc
- Identifier-ark
- ark:/13960/t81k0bt1j
- Ocr_converted
- abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.37
- Ocr_module_version
- 0.0.21
- Openlibrary_edition
- OL25523343M
- Openlibrary_work
- OL16903549W
- Page-progression
- lr
- Page_number_confidence
- 98
- Page_number_module_version
- 1.0.3
- Pages
- 334
- Ppi
- 400
- Scandate
- 20110818132346
- Scanner
- scribe1.honolulu.archive.org
- Scanningcenter
- honolulu
- Worldcat (source edition)
- 20291725
- Full catalog record
- MARCXML
comment
Reviews
Reviewer:
Maxwell Silverhammer
-
favorite -
January 23, 2022
Subject: An LDS Embarrassment
Subject: An LDS Embarrassment
I love these early and now obsolete tracts published by LDS since they reveal the original path of blasphemy set in motion by Joe Smith. Such things as the mormon god-head (now not used) and the debunked Jew-Indian theory.
"Also, the Book of Mormon reveals the fact that the aborigines of this continent arc a branch' of the House of Israel, and that they eventually will receive the Gospel and lay down their weapons of war, and become the people of the Lord in very-deed. But more of this in its proper place."
I also love the attempts to rebuke all of the pro-truth Christian literature which LDS has never reconciled. So interesting of a read.
The single-source 'evidence' LDS points at to authenticate their view is also perplexing.
The Book of Mormon is full of anachronisms, which is when a person takes an idea from their own time and inserts it in a past time in which it never actually existed.
For example: If someone told you they had an airplane used in the Revolutionary war, or President Lincoln’s iPhone, or Napolion’s SUV, you may laugh a little but you’d also wonder what the objective is for this error / deception. The Book of Mormon suffers from this problem throughout:
Deutero-Isaiah: As discussed above, the inclusion of Deutero-Isaiah in the Book of Mormon is a massive anachronism. There is no way that these passages could have been included on the gold plates since they were written after the exodus from Jerusalem. Joseph Smith did not know this when writing the Book of Mormon, which is why he took freely from Isaiah as a whole.
Cattle/Sheep/Goats: "And also all manner of cattle, of oxen, and cows, and of sheep, and of swine, and of goats, and also many other kinds of animals which were useful for the food of man." (Ether 9:18) While the Book of Mormon claims that animals were domesticated for food as in Joseph Smith's time, even FAIR considers this anachronism correct. They loan shift cattle to buffalo, sheep to mountain sheep, and that goats could've been deer, but the reality is that these animals were not introduced to America until Columbus got here.
Honey Bees: "did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees." (Ether 2:3) FAIR gives the following explanation: "The Book of Mormon does not state that the Jaredites brought honeybees across the ocean. It says that they brought them to the coast of the Old World. The Maya codex Tro-Cortesianus, which predates the arrival of the Spaniards, shows drawings of bees and parts of honey combs." They want you to believe both that the Book of Mormon never explicitly says honey bees were brought while also telling us that there are drawings of bee parts so either way they're covered. That's peak apologetics right there. Of course what FAIR doesn't note is that the earliest honey bee fossils date back 14 million years, which is over 13 million years before Mormon doctrine allows for life to exist.
Swords/Metalworking: "And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance." (2 Nephi 5:15) This is one of the most egregious anachronisms, because we are told they used these weapons for battles that numbered in the hundreds of thousands. In order to create such metalworking, you would have evidence of forges, old stockpiles of materials, etc. It simply did not happen, even though FAIR tells us that steel doesn't actually mean steel. FAIR states: "The author assumes that "steel" refers to modern steel, which did not exist in pre-Columbian America. Steel has been found in the Old World in the appropriate time period." The problem is that it did not exist in the Americas. A lot of things existed in the Old World that were not in the New World - that's actually the point of pointing out the anachronisms that Joseph made based on what he was familiar with from his time-frame. That includes both things around him physically, as well as things that he read about int he Bible, which we know he heavily referenced/borrowed from for the Book of Mormon. Take note that the few examples that FAIR states for metalworking are from the Old World - no one is arguing that particularly because there is evidence it happened in the Old World. What we are arguing is that Joseph Smith used metalworking in the New World because he was familiar with it, yet there is not a single shred of proof of its existence in the New World even though hundreds of thousands of people battled with swords, helmets, shields, etc.
Horses/Chariots: "Now when Lamoni had heard this he caused that his servants should make ready his horses and his chariots." (Alma 20:6) This is a technology that would have revolutionized the population and would have been passed down from generation to generation, yet there is zero evidence it happened. FAIR admits this is correct, even though they try to downplay the idea by stating chariots are not mentioned often. Bottom line is that this is an anachronism that Joseph Smith would have assumed would've been used when going to battle, and thus it ended up in the Book of Mormon. The most obvious answer is usually the correct one.
There are many other anachronisms including wheat, silk, oxen, swine, coins, and wheels as well in the Book of Mormon. As is a common theme in these different subjects, Joseph Smith freely used from concepts and sources that were available in his lifetime. The fact that anachronisms are scattered in the Book of Mormon therefore is not surprising, but another knock against his credibility as a prophet of God.
It also needs to be noted again that the history tells us that the Book of Mormon has a tight translation. The fact that these anachronisms exist can only be excused under a loose translation, but that is not what the history tells us. While anachronisms by themselves might not be the smoking gun, in combination with what we know about the history of the translation as well as the King James issues, they are another insight into the problems with the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith's credibility as a prophet of God.
"Also, the Book of Mormon reveals the fact that the aborigines of this continent arc a branch' of the House of Israel, and that they eventually will receive the Gospel and lay down their weapons of war, and become the people of the Lord in very-deed. But more of this in its proper place."
I also love the attempts to rebuke all of the pro-truth Christian literature which LDS has never reconciled. So interesting of a read.
The single-source 'evidence' LDS points at to authenticate their view is also perplexing.
The Book of Mormon is full of anachronisms, which is when a person takes an idea from their own time and inserts it in a past time in which it never actually existed.
For example: If someone told you they had an airplane used in the Revolutionary war, or President Lincoln’s iPhone, or Napolion’s SUV, you may laugh a little but you’d also wonder what the objective is for this error / deception. The Book of Mormon suffers from this problem throughout:
Deutero-Isaiah: As discussed above, the inclusion of Deutero-Isaiah in the Book of Mormon is a massive anachronism. There is no way that these passages could have been included on the gold plates since they were written after the exodus from Jerusalem. Joseph Smith did not know this when writing the Book of Mormon, which is why he took freely from Isaiah as a whole.
Cattle/Sheep/Goats: "And also all manner of cattle, of oxen, and cows, and of sheep, and of swine, and of goats, and also many other kinds of animals which were useful for the food of man." (Ether 9:18) While the Book of Mormon claims that animals were domesticated for food as in Joseph Smith's time, even FAIR considers this anachronism correct. They loan shift cattle to buffalo, sheep to mountain sheep, and that goats could've been deer, but the reality is that these animals were not introduced to America until Columbus got here.
Honey Bees: "did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee; and thus they did carry with them swarms of bees." (Ether 2:3) FAIR gives the following explanation: "The Book of Mormon does not state that the Jaredites brought honeybees across the ocean. It says that they brought them to the coast of the Old World. The Maya codex Tro-Cortesianus, which predates the arrival of the Spaniards, shows drawings of bees and parts of honey combs." They want you to believe both that the Book of Mormon never explicitly says honey bees were brought while also telling us that there are drawings of bee parts so either way they're covered. That's peak apologetics right there. Of course what FAIR doesn't note is that the earliest honey bee fossils date back 14 million years, which is over 13 million years before Mormon doctrine allows for life to exist.
Swords/Metalworking: "And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance." (2 Nephi 5:15) This is one of the most egregious anachronisms, because we are told they used these weapons for battles that numbered in the hundreds of thousands. In order to create such metalworking, you would have evidence of forges, old stockpiles of materials, etc. It simply did not happen, even though FAIR tells us that steel doesn't actually mean steel. FAIR states: "The author assumes that "steel" refers to modern steel, which did not exist in pre-Columbian America. Steel has been found in the Old World in the appropriate time period." The problem is that it did not exist in the Americas. A lot of things existed in the Old World that were not in the New World - that's actually the point of pointing out the anachronisms that Joseph made based on what he was familiar with from his time-frame. That includes both things around him physically, as well as things that he read about int he Bible, which we know he heavily referenced/borrowed from for the Book of Mormon. Take note that the few examples that FAIR states for metalworking are from the Old World - no one is arguing that particularly because there is evidence it happened in the Old World. What we are arguing is that Joseph Smith used metalworking in the New World because he was familiar with it, yet there is not a single shred of proof of its existence in the New World even though hundreds of thousands of people battled with swords, helmets, shields, etc.
Horses/Chariots: "Now when Lamoni had heard this he caused that his servants should make ready his horses and his chariots." (Alma 20:6) This is a technology that would have revolutionized the population and would have been passed down from generation to generation, yet there is zero evidence it happened. FAIR admits this is correct, even though they try to downplay the idea by stating chariots are not mentioned often. Bottom line is that this is an anachronism that Joseph Smith would have assumed would've been used when going to battle, and thus it ended up in the Book of Mormon. The most obvious answer is usually the correct one.
There are many other anachronisms including wheat, silk, oxen, swine, coins, and wheels as well in the Book of Mormon. As is a common theme in these different subjects, Joseph Smith freely used from concepts and sources that were available in his lifetime. The fact that anachronisms are scattered in the Book of Mormon therefore is not surprising, but another knock against his credibility as a prophet of God.
It also needs to be noted again that the history tells us that the Book of Mormon has a tight translation. The fact that these anachronisms exist can only be excused under a loose translation, but that is not what the history tells us. While anachronisms by themselves might not be the smoking gun, in combination with what we know about the history of the translation as well as the King James issues, they are another insight into the problems with the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith's credibility as a prophet of God.
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